


Tales of Adrinette

by RandyQueen



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette April, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, References to Ladybug and Chat Noir, Reveal, of identities?, or of the obvious feelings?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-12-25 19:59:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyQueen/pseuds/RandyQueen
Summary: This is where I'm putting my entries for the Adrinette April 2019 by adrientteapril on Tumblr (  https://adrinetteapril.tumblr.com/ )I'm attempting to keep it as a linear story if possible. Welcome, to the Tales of Adrinette!





	1. Just Friends

“You okay, dude?” Nino asked as soon as he saw Adrien.

Adrien came out of his thoughts. “Yeah, I think I am.” The fingers on his right hand went through the F scale.

“You sure? You look like you just came to a realization,” Nino said as he sat down at his desk.

“You remember that girl I told you about? The one I met at that con?” Adrien waited until his best friend nodded to continue. “I didn’t tell you that I had a crush on her.”

Nino’s brows furrowed. “Huh. I should have guessed with how you talked about her."

“Well, she doesn’t like me in the same way and has turned me down. I’ve decided to try and move on,” Adrien said.

“That’s mature of you. What made you decide that?” Nino’s eyebrows were now unfurrowed and had risen up.

“I’ve done a lot of thinking,” Adrien spread his hands out to demonstrate, “and realized that I didn't really know much about her. She also likes someone else.”

Nino nodded. “So are you going to date anyone or are you going to spend time by yourself to get back in the game?”

“Definitely not jumping in right away. I’ve gotta get used to not pursuing her and all.” Adrien shrugged.

“You’ll find someone when you’re ready,” Nino said before patting Adrien on the shoulder. They fell quiet as Mlle. Bustier started the lesson of the day. Adrien sat forward, ready to listen to the lesson.

 

Over the next month, Adrien stuck with his decision. Ladybug hadn’t made any comments on his behavior change. It was surprisingly easy to not show off to impress her. 

Today, he was with his friends as they walk around shops and restaurants. Nino trailed behind with him as Marinette and Alya walked ahead with their arms linked.

“It’s a nice day,” Nino commented.

Adrien looked around. The sun was shining and the wind was cool. “It is. Think we should go to the park?”

“Up to the girls,” Nino waved his hand to them as they walked into a fabric shop. “We can ask.”

Adrien and Nino walked into the store. It was filled with rows of fabric. He split off from Nino to look for the girls.

He found Marinette by herself, gazing at the different bolts on the wall. He watched as she felt different fabrics. Her nose scrunched up at the textures she didn’t like. She was pursing her lips at a bolt of fabric decorated with watercolor flowers.

“That looks pretty,” Adrien said.

Marinette jumped at his voice. “Y-you scared me.”

“Sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Marinette said. She had gotten better with speaking to him lately.

“You going to buy that?” He asked.

She found the price tag. “Fourteen euros per yard. I like to have a lot to make many items and see if the fabric is truly versatile.”  

“How many is a lot?”

“It takes about four and a half yards for a dress with short sleeves, five with long sleeves. A blouse takes two to three depending on sleeves and so on and so forth.” Marinette tapped on her fingers. “That’s about nine or ten yards of fabric which would cost one hundred thirty euros at least.”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Adrien saw another price tag that read twelve euros. “I didn’t know how much went into designing clothes.”

“Do you not see the process with your dad?” She asked. Her brows were furrowed.

“Not really. What I mostly do is model the clothes,” Adrien said.

Marinette nodded. “How long have you done modeling?”

“A few years.”

“And you don’t see the process of the clothes?”

“Father never required me to so I didn’t.” Adrien followed her as she went down the aisle. “How long have you designed and made clothes?”

“A couple of years now. My first project was my bag actually,” Marinette said, gesturing to her bag that rested on her hip.

“May I?” He asked.

Marinette’s eyes widened momentarily before she nodded slowly. Adrien's fingers brushed against her hip as he picked the bag up. Looking closely, he could tell that it was handmade.

“I’m guessing that the flowers are your logo of sorts?”

“Uh, y-yes.” Her face had a pink hue to it.

He nodded and set the bag back on her hip. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

“That’s Nino,” Adrien commented after he read the text. “He says that Alya had to go home and that he’s going with her.”

“She must have to babysit her sisters,” She assumed.

“I would guess so.” Adrien put his phone away. “Well, Nino and I were coming in to ask if you two wanted to go to the park, but I guess that since Alya and Nino are gone we can do something else.”

Marinette shook her head. “We can still go to the park after we have lunch.”

“After you, Madam,” he said, bowing with an arm out to his side. Marinette giggled and went through.

Before they left, Adrien feigned that he left something in the store. He walked to the counter instead.

The worker had a smile on her face. “Hello, did you find what you wanted?”

“Yes, but it’s a surprise,” Adrien told her. “My friend was looking at some fabric in the back and she likes the one with the watercolor flowers.”

“Ah, I see,” the name tag on the worker’s shirt told him her name was Darcy. “If you would show me the fabric in question please.”

Adrien led Darcy to where he found Marinette and showed her the fabric. Darcy picked the bolt of the display and took it to a counter where she cut off the twelve yards he requested.

“Okay, that is done and since this is a gift, I can ring you up at this counter and get an address to send it to,” Darcy said.

Soon, Adrien had paid for the fabric and had it sent to his house. He thanked her and walked out to see Marinette sitting on a bench with her sketchbook out. She was drawing clothes using the fabric he just bought.

“Ready to go?” He asked.

She nodded as she added some finishing touches. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Uh,” Adrien need to think of an excuse quickly and pulled out his wallet. “My wallet had fallen out of my pocket and Darcy, the worker, helped me find it.”

“That’s important to have.” She closed her sketchbook and put it in her bag carefully. She stood up and they then were on their way.

Aimless chatter filled their walk to a restaurant near the park. In no time, they had arrived.

Adrien held the door open for Marinette. “Thank you, kind sir,” she said with a half curtsy.

He responded in kind. “T’was my pleasure, Madam.”

She was giggling as he requested a table for them. The host sat them at a table on the wall.

“Do you understand the assignment the Mlle. Bustier gave us?” Marinette asked after they ordered their drinks.

“Yeah, I did.” Adrien picked up the menu. “Did you need help on it?”

Marinette nodded. “I didn’t understand question seven and question twelve. Alya tried to explain it but she rage quit on me.”

“I could help you with it.”

“That would save me,” Marinette said. She ran her finger over the menu. “I don’t know what I should get.”

“How about you close your eyes, move your finger around randomly and which meal you land on you get?” He used this tactic many times. There have been a few misses with meals, but overall it had worked out.

“Okay,” she agreed and followed his instructions. “Looks like I’ll be having a Tartiflette.”

Adrien read over the description. “Want to share it? It sounds good.”

“Yeah, I’m not feeling too hungry right now. Maman and Papa made a big breakfast this morning.” Marinette sat her menu down.

“It works out. How is the bakery doing by the way?”

“Things are running smoothly. I’ve picked up a few shifts lately to help out. Maman was talking to Papa about hiring someone to lighten the load.”

Adrien perked up. “Do you think I could do it?”

“You just want to have access to all the pastries,” Marinette teased.

“You’ve got me,” he faked despair. “I shall one be with my one true love.”

“All jokes aside, I’m sure Maman would consider you but aren’t you already so busy with modeling and your extracurriculars?”

“Lately, Father has shortened the number of photoshoots I do and fencing isn’t in season,” Adrien says. “I’ll have time for working at the bakery.”

“I’m surprised that he’s having fewer shoots without you.”

“I am too, but I’m not going to question it. I have more freedom to do what I would like.” Adrien smiled at the memories that popped up of their adventures.

Their food had arrived and the conversation turned to lighter topics. Adrien had never felt so full of that indescribable feeling.

 

Plagg floated around Adrien’s room. He was most likely looking for Camembert. “It seems that your date went well,” the glutton said. 

“It wasn’t a date, Plagg,” Adrien said as he changed into his pajamas. “She’s a friend and we hung out today.”

“Didn’t seem like it,” Plagg stopped in front of Adrien’s face. “If I had witnessed this, and I did, I would say that it was a date.”

“How would it be a date?”

Plagg tapped his paw. “First, you go shopping together all the while staring at her.”

“We were with Alya and Nino,” Adrien added.

“They left, kid,” Plagg said bluntly. “Next was lunch. I know for a fact that you paid and you two shared a meal. That and the park where the flowers were blooming and you were practically sitting on each other.”

A blush rose to the blonde’s cheeks. “It got cold.”

“You just don’t want to admit it.” Plagg taunted him as he waved the Camembert he found.

“There’s nothing to admit. We’re just friends.” Adrien sat on his bed. “Good night, Plagg.”

Plagg sighed. “Good night, Adrien.”

 _Was she really just a friend?_ He thought as his holder fell asleep.


	2. Seat Buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is late, motivation button broke for the day

Marinette was going to die. When Mlle. Bustier announced that they were doing a project, the class had groaned. There were more groans as she said that their partners were assigned.

Of course, that meant that she had somehow ended up paired with Adrien. While she was less of a mess around of him, she still held the torch for him. Badly.

With the partner assignment came seat changes. Every pair had to sit next to each other to work on this project. That meant she shared with Adrien. 

After Mlle. Bustier paired them up, she let them know that they were going to the _Musée Marmottan Monet_ to see the paintings on Thursday. This, the class cheered at.

Mlle. Bustier went over the details of the project. They were to choose an artist to make a presentation. She told them to be creative and to have fun.

Adrian turned to Marinette. “This is going to be fun. Your creativity will definitely help us.”

“Oh, so I’m going to do all the work,” she teased, pushing at his shoulder.

He dramatically fell back into his chair, causing her to burst into a fit of giggles. “You wound me, Mari,” he said.

“Dork,” she huffed as she turned away from him as if in anger.

“Mari,” he whined.

Marinette felt her mouth twitch up. She ignored him.

“Mari,” he whined louder and closer.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw that he had put his head on the table, looking up at her with a pout. With a laugh, she put her hands over his face. “None of that."

Adrien smiled from what she could feel. His hands came up to gently remove her hands. Marinette gave him a look.

“We’ve got this, Mari,” Adrien said. “I’m looking forward to working together.”

She internally squealed in happiness. “I am too,” she said. It was then that she noticed Adrien’s hands were still holding her wrists.

He had let go when Mlle. Bustier called for attention and continued to explain what the project grade would entail. Marinette let her mind wander after she tools a picture of the rubric.

  
  


Thursday arrived quickly. The entire class was a buzz of chatter and excitement as they clambered up the bus stairs. It was about a twenty-minute drive to the museum.

“Now kids, you’ll be sitting next to your partners to and from the museum,” Mlle. Bustier reminded them.

There was some shuffling as the people who didn’t sit next to their partners moved. Alya rolled her eyes as Cholé crossed her arms when she had to sit next to her. Marinette winced in sympathy. 

Adrien plopped in the seat which had her bounce up. She let out a startled squeak.

“Whoops,” Adrien said, looking as if he was trying to not laugh.

She shot him a glare that didn’t reflect the emotion she wanted to. Giving up, she laughed and he joined in. “If this is what my seat buddy does to me, then ye shall perish.”

“I beg your pardon?” Adrien put an offended face on.

Marinette stared blankly. “Then beg.”

He opened his mouth and closed it. “I don’t know how to respond to that.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t either.” She shrugged. 

He copied her and shrugged his shoulders. Which she did again. It soon turned into a shrug match which stopped because of their laughter.

“Who are you thinking of doing for the project?” She asked when they calmed down.

“Uh, no idea,” Adrien said honestly. “Maybe we look at the painting and see if they can tell us.”

“Do paintings talk now?”

“You know what I mean.”

The short silence was interrupted by Marinette’s hand meeting her face. “Why do I bother?” she asked rhetorically.

“Because you’re my friend,” Adrien tilted his head and placed his fingers in a peace sign near his face like an anime girls, “and I'm too cute.”

_ How does she like him? _ She seriously thought. “Why.”

He laughed over Mlle. Bustier saying that they were on their way. “Anyway, who do you think we should do our project on?” He asked.

“Hmm, I don’t know. We should look at the paintings first and then choose.” Marinette tapped a finger on her chin. “I’ll like to see if there’s one I can replicate.”

“Replicate?” Adrien asked. His eyes had widened slightly, showing just how green they were.

“I like a challenge,” she said with a shrug.

“You are amazing.”

Marinette shook her head. Years ago, that type of comment would have melted her to the floor. Now it was a common phrase he said to her. “I think you’re looking for creative.”

The bus stopped and the chatter died. More than a dozen eyes went to the windows. The museum was a gray building that didn’t really impress many.

One by one, the rows filled onto the street. Partners stood next to each other. Marinette and Adrien, Alya and Chloé, Rose and Alix, Kim and Nino, Nathaniel and Juleka, Ivan and Max, and Mylène and Sabrina.

Mlle. Bustier called for attention. “Okay, class, we’re going to be on our best behavior,” she cast a look to Kim and Alix, “and not disrupt the others who are also here.”

There was a chorus of agreements before she let them go. Marinette grabbed Adrien’s arm and pulled him inside. Once inside, she dropped it in awe. Many beautiful paintings lined the walls. 

“There’s so many,” she whispered.

“It  _ is  _ an art museum.”

“I know that,” she rolled her eyes.

Adrien’s lips were pulled into a wide grin. “I want to see who can come up with the best art puns.”

She groaned. He puns all the time. “You mean worst.”

“I got kicked out of cartoon art school. I guess you could say I was in suspended animation,” he ignored her statement.

“You can do better than that.” Why was she encouraging him?

“What do art thieves say when they’re in a bank robbery? “Grab the Monet and let’s Gough.”,” Adrien said with a small laugh.

Marinette let out a small laugh. “Getting better.”

Adrien thought for a moment. “A thief attempted to steal paintings from the Louvre but was caught two blocks away when his van ran out of gas. All the thief could say for himself was: “I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gough. But I tried for it anyway because I had nothing Toulouse!”.”

“How did you find that one?” Was all she could say.

“When you’re homeschooled and have nothing better to do, the internet is your friend.” He shrugged and dragged her to a painting nearby. “We should probably start some research."

“We should,” she agreed. They spent what could have been hours looking at the different paintings. There was Monet, Morisot, and many other artists, sculptors, and carpenters. Adrien made her laugh by doing the same poses as the sculptures and goading her into it too.

They stopped at a painting. It was a river of blues and purples. Trees of blues, greens, yellows, and purples. She nudged her partner. “What do you see?”

Adrien stared at the painting. “I see,” he paused as if he was looking for the right words, “colors.”

Marinette giggled. “That is what paint is.”

“I’m bad at this,” he shook his head.

“No, you aren’t,” she said. “Just think of what it makes you feel when you look at it.”

The both of them stood in silence as they took in all the details. “I get a sense of freedom,” he said. “The people on the boat are enjoying the moments together that only they will remember.”

Marinette could see it. “I look at it and see the beauty that is nature. You may not think that there’s much to color in it, but this painting shows a sense of life.”

Adrien was looking at her with a look that she couldn’t describe. His green eyes were lit up in a soft way and his lips were upturned slightly. She looked away with a blush.

“Yo-That was beautiful,” he murmured. 

“Thank you.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think we should do this artist.”

“I think so too,” Adrien said with his eyes still on her.

After they made a note about the painting and artist, Mlle. Bustier told them that they had an hour left. Marinette spent that hour dragging Adrien throughout the exhibits that they hadn’t gone to.

Soon enough, the class clamored up the stairs. Surprisingly, Alya had managed to get Cholé to help her and was having what seemed like a tense conversation with the blonde.

Her blond partner tilted his head back and turned to her. “I’m glad I got you as my seat buddy.”

“Me too, Adrien.” Seems like she upgraded slightly on the friend zone scale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a painting that was at the Musée Marmottan Monet, don't know if it's still there but I don't live in Paris
> 
> https://www.google.com/maps/place/Marmottan+Monet+Museum/@48.8592657,2.2672311,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNTrHmrdXVMe8yHeP5vMF6jrcQLvEAqbJ99DwNu!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNTrHmrdXVMe8yHeP5vMF6jrcQLvEAqbJ99DwNu%3Dw203-h114-k-no!7i5312!8i2988!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e665529447f461:0x4ec7611155da854c!8m2!3d48.8592657!4d2.2672311


	3. Embarrassing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is late, I started this a little late but here is Day 3!

There was an upside to spraining an ankle; he didn’t have to do photoshoots as long as it was still sprained. Although no one knows how he sprained it, and that’s how he wants to keep it.

Plagg floated upside down beside him. “I still think it’s funny that you-”

“Nope,” Adrien cut in. “Not talking about it.”

A know was all the warning the little god got to hide before Natalie walked in. “It’s time for school, Adrien.”

Adrien stood up from his bed and grabbed his crutches. He hobbled through the door. The Gorilla waited outside his door. He definitely didn’t squeak when he was picked up. Not at all.

Lucky for him, the car was pulled up to the door which meant that he wasn’t carried too far. The car ride was quick and soon he was at school. He managed to get out of the car and started his way to the front doors.

Rose gasped upon seeing. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just a sprain,” Adrien said, waving his foot around and immediately regretting it with it twinged with pain.

“Feel better!”

Adrien thanked her and crutched his way to class. He sat in his seat. The class was slowly filling up as he sat there. And with it, a round of questions.

“How are you, Adrien?”

He was kind of at the breaking point by all the questions so he sort of snapped. “I’m doing a-okay.”

“Well then, I guess I’ll take my company elsewhere.” Adrien immediately knew who the voice belonged to.

“I’m so sorry, Mari,” he put his head down on the table, “I’ve had so many people asked how I sprained my ankle or if I’m okay today.”

Her hand patted his back as she sat down. “It’s okay, Adrien. I have good news though.”

He turned his head to her, his face squishing up. “Warfs teh newphs?”

Marinette giggled. “I spoke with Maman and she said that she be willing to “test” you.”

Adrien sat up quickly. “Really?” He leaned forward in excitement.

“Yes. She wasn’t surprised that you were interested in it.” She smiled. Her eyes were warm and Adrien could get lost in them.

“What will the test consist of?” He asked.

“Most likely of your customer service skills,” Marinette shrugged. “Papa was talking about testing your baking.”

Adrien winced. “I may not be too good at that.”

“Don’t knock yourself down. Baking takes a bit to be good at,” she assured.

“There is a small problem.”

“And what would that be?”

He gestured to his leg. “This.”

“How long are you going to have that on?” She tilted her head.

“The doc said at least two weeks. One week on crutches, the other without,” he answered.

“I’ll let Maman know that next week will work for you,” she said.

Adrien grinned. “You’re the best, Mari.”

“I know,” Marinette said with a cheeky smile.

  
Adrien was getting tired of the crutches really quickly. Sure, he was able to leave the class a little earlier to avoid the student traffic but it was difficult to navigate with them.

Marinette slid next to him as he crutched down the cafeteria. “Heya, Adrien.”

“Hey, Mari,” he replied. He grunted in frustration as his crutch caught the tile.

“You tired of them?” Trust Marinette to know how he was feeling.

“Yes.”

“Hands, armpits, and arms hurting?”

“Yes.”

“Swinging is too much and short of breath?”

“Yes.”

“I know of an easier way to use them,” she offered.

Adrien stopped in his tracks and stared at her like she was a goddess (who was he kidding, she is). “Please,” he begged.

Marinette asked to see his crutches to demonstrate. Instead of swinging, she stepped with the crutch. “After I complained to my doctor about swinging, she showed me this way. You step with the crutch and put the pressure in your hands. No more swinging or breathing problems.” She handed the crutches back.

“Thank you so much,” he said when he tested it out and it worked so much better. They found a table and sat down.

“It’s no big deal. I’ve sprained my ankles too many times with how clumsy I am.” She shrugged.

“This is the second time I sprained it,” he said. “Last time was barely a sprain but I still wore a brace under my jeans just in case.”

“When did that happen?” Marinette’s voice stumbled just a bit but Adrien ignored it.

“When Riposte came after me. When I was running, I twinged my ankle and thought it was better safe than sorry,” he said.

“Oh,” Marinette looked away from him, “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt too bad.”

Adrien thought about how he really sprain his ankle that time. Getting thrown into the wall was not fun. “Me too.”

“Oh! I’ve got the replica painting for the project.” Marinette carefully pulled out the canvas. “It’s not exact, but I’m proud of it.”

It looked exactly how he remembered it. The blues, pinks, greens, and everything else about it. “You did an amazing job,” he praised. “I did some research about the artist and found some things.”

Adrien pulled out the notebook he wrote the information down. The next few minutes were spent talking about the project.

“Sup, dudes,” Nino said as he slid across from Marinette. Alya slid next to him.

“Hey, Nino,” Adrien greeted.

Marinette waved. “We were discussing our project for Bustier.”

“Just be glad you got Sunshine,” Alya waved her fork. “ I got stuck with Chloé.”

“I noticed that you got her to do some work,” Marinette said.

Alya nodded. “It took some effort, but I succeeded.”

“At least she is doing something. Kim is really uninterested in this,” Nino complained.

“Why don’t you make it a competition?” Adrine tapped his pencil on his notebook.

Nino dropped his head on the table. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because it slipped your mind,” Alya told her boyfriend.

Nino groaned in despair.

  
Adrien was tired and didn’t want to move from his chair. It was the end of school and using the crutched tired him out. Mari’s method had helped him so much, but it was extra work that he didn’t like.

Marinette stopped next to him. “Aren’t you going home?”

“I don’t want to move,” Adrien said, his head tilted back. His neck was starting to hurt from the prolonged position.

“You gotta,” she said.

“No,” he whined.

“You left me with no choice.”

Adrien didn’t have a chance to ask what she meant when his view suddenly shifted.

“Alya,” Marinette called, “can you get his crutched and bag?”

Alya laughed as she followed what Mari said. “Sure thing, girl.”

Adrien clung to Marinette’s neck. “How?”

“Kind of happens when you work in a bakery,” she said with a shrug which moved him.

His face was flamed as he was carried by Marinette through school and to his car. He was very tempted to bury his face on her shoulder to hide from the stares of the other students.

When they stopped by his car, Marinette gently set him on the ground. “See you tomorrow,” she said before she left him standing there in awe and shock with a red face.

Alya set his stuff on the ground at his feet. “She is something, isn’t she?” She said as they watch the bluenette walk off.

“Yeah,” he breathed. She was something.

  
BONUS

“Hey, Adrien,” Plagg said, “watch this!”

On his computer screen, Adrien was dancing to Gangnam Style.

“I SAID TO WERE NOT TALKING ABOUT IT!”


	4. Hide Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another one that was late! Sorry about that, from now on, I'll do my best to keep up

Marinette dodged around corners, looking behind her so often. She knew she had to be careful. One wrong move and she would be found.

When the coast was clear, she darted behind a bush. She crouch, breathing heavily. She peeked over the bush. Her pursuer wasn’t in sight but that could quickly change.

“Marinette?”

Marinette flailed and let out a garbled nose. Her back was approaching the ground. She accepted that she was going to have a bruise with her eyes closed. She opened one eye when she didn’t meet the floor.

Adrien had wound an arm around her waist which effectively stopped her.

“Hide me,” she breathed.

His eyebrow rose. “Should I ask why?”

“Alya.”

“Shit, let’s go.” Adrien tugged her through the streets. They both traveled the streets while keeping an awareness of behind them for the reporter.

“What made you hail the fury of Alya?” He asked as they hustled.

“I don’t know! I was walking around when she shouted my name,” Marinette said, looking behind them as if saying her name would summon her. “Where are we going?”

“There’s a place I know where no one will find us.” Adrien weaved through the Parisians as he lead her to this secret location.

Marinette blinked. “It sounds as if you’re going to murder me.”

“Eh, debatable.”

She let out an offended gasp. “I am at least a six on the murderable scale.”

“Is that a thing?” Adrien turned confused eyes to her for a second before they went back to ahead of him.

“Nope.”

“Well, you surpass a six on other scales,” He commented.

A second of silence passed. “And what are the other scales?”

“Uh,” Adrien paused as his face slowly turned red, “clumsiness and talent.”

“You said that too quickly.” Marinette narrowed her eyes.”

“No, I didn’t.”

She looked at him for a minute longer. “I still don’t believe you.”

He shrugged. “Believe what you want.”

With a quick glance behind him, Adrien pulled her into an alleyway. Twists and turns later, he stopped in front of a ladder. “After you, madame.”

“Can you even do that with your ankle?” Marinette cast a glace to the appendage.

“The doc said I needed to stretch it,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure that your doctor didn’t mean climbing ladders in alleys.”

“You do want to hide fro Alya, right?”

She looked behind her and decided to climb the ladder. “Don’t complain to me when your ankle hurts again,” she called down as she climbed.

“My lips will be sealed,” Adrien said.

When Marinette made it to the roof, Adrien followed up. “It’s not too much farther.”

  
Over the next ten minutes, Adrien and her ran across the roofs of Paris. It was surprising that she was able to keep up without being Ladybug. All the running must have been helping. Adrien was, despite his ankle being sprained, keeping pace without incident.

Adrien slowed down. “It’s around the corner.”

True to his word, around the corner there was an alcove with a stone bench. “How did you find this?” She asked.

“Oh, uh, I got lost one day and climbed up on the roofs and walked around. I found this shortly after I got up here,” he said.

Marinette giggled. “You got lost and instead of asking for directions, you decided to go on the roofs?”

“Yes,” he nodded, “not my finest moments.”

The bench was warmed by the sun, she noticed when they sat down. They had the view of the bustling streets of Paris.

“Over there,” Adrien pointed to the right of her, “is where the school is and over there,” his finger moved to the left a bit, “is the Eiffel Tower.”

Marinette squinted and could see it in the distance. “Wow, you must come up here a lot.”

He shrugged. “It’s also where I go to hide when I skip out on the Gorilla.”

“Thank you for sharing this with me,” she said.

“Anything for you.” He had a fond look on his face.

Marinette felt her face heat up. She was about to speak up when her phone rang. Her face went white as she saw the caller ID.

Adrien made a noise in confusion and she turned it to him. His eyes widened. “Answer it!”

She shook her head. “Nope, not going to face that wrath.”

“If you don’t, it’ll be worse.”

Her resolve broke. “Hey, Alya,” she answered the phone.

“Where the hell are you?” Her best friend asked loudly. Marinette pulled the phone away from her ear. Adrien winced at the volume.

“Uh, in Paris.”

“Marinette,” Alya said in a warning tone.

“I'm near my house.”

“You have some explaining because your phone says that you aren't near your house.”

“Did you track my phone?” Marinette exclaimed.

“You disappeared!” Alya said. “I saw you and then you were gone.”

“You shouted my name earlier and you’re scary when you’re mad,” Marinette defended herself.

Alya sighed. “I’m not mad at you. I have some gossip.”

“Oh.”

Adrien tilted his head in question. Marinette put a thumbs up.

“Seriously though, where are you? Your phone says that you’re right here.”

Marinette stood up and walked to the edge of the roof. On the ground was the red hair of Alya. “I can see you.” She leaned on the edge.

Alya looked around slowly. “I still can’t see you.”

Marinette turned to Adrien with a giggle. He was smiling too. She pointed down to Alya and his smile got bigger.

“Shall we mess with her?” he whispered in her ear.

Her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Yell her name and duck.”

Marinette did that exactly.

“I heard you, but I don’t see you,” Alya said.

She smothered her giggles. She leaned over and shouted her name again and ducked back down.

“Okay, where are you?”

Marinette stood back up and leaned on the edge. “Isn’t it a nice day out? The sun is up and shining.”

Alya finally looked up and spotted her. “How in the hell did you get up there?”

“I’ll never tell,” Marinette sing songed.

“You better come down soon, I have some big news,” Alya said.

“I’ll be down, see you soon.”

“See you.” Marinette hung up.

Adrien laughed. “That was fun.”

“It was,” she said. “Thank you again.”

“Anytime. It’s our spot now.” Adrien held out his pinkie.

She linked it with his. “Our spot.”

She let go and pressed a kiss to his cheek. As she walked away, her face was alight. She would definitely be coming here again.


	5. Clumsy

Today was not Marinette’s day. She has tripped a total of twelve times and she hasn’t even made it to school. For some reason, she was even more clumsy than usual.

She made deliberate steps as she walked to school. Every time she felt herself wobble, she stopped. How was it that she has the Miraculous of good luck when she didn't have a good track with it.

Marinette sat down in her chair only to land on the ground. She groaned and laid down with her eyes closed. There were footsteps that stopped near her head. Her view was full of blond hair when her eyes opened.

“How did you get down there?” Adrien asked, cocking his head.

“Kill me now,” she muttered. “This is the thirteenth time today.”

“That you’ve laid on the floor?”

“That I’ve tripped.”

“You okay?” He held a hand out for her. She took it and he pulled her up.

Marinette pitched far forward. Her fall was cushioned by Adrien, causing them to land on the ground. She went boneless against him. “I’m so sorry.” her voice was muffled by his shirt.

He laughed. “It’s fine, but I think we need to get up before class starts.”

“I guess so.” Marinette sat up to face a camera pointed at them. “Put that away, Alya!”

Alya hummed. “I don’t think so, considering how this looks.” She waved her hand to indicate Marinette and Adrien.

It was then that she realized that she was straddling Adrien. She blushed a dark red and, in her hustle to move, fell on the ground beside him.

“That makes it fifteen,” Adrien said. His face was pinkening.

“Yup,” Marinette chirped. Nothing else came to mind, so she stood and went to her desk. “I’m just going to focus on class.”

Adrien nodded awkwardly. “Me too.”

  
Class went by at a snail's pace. All she could focus on was what happened earlier with Adrien. Her mind kept slipping and she wasn’t writing notes.

“Girl, talk to me,” Alya said when Mlle. Bustier gave them an assignment to complete.

Marinette dropped her head on the table. “I have tripped fifteen times today and two of them happened in front of Adrien.”

“You always fall in front of, or for, him.”

She slapped Alya’s arm. “While both statements are true, it was embarrassing. I fell trying to sit down and laid down on the ground in defeat and he showed up. Then he tried to help me get up and I fell on him and we landed on the ground.”

“And he seemed okay with it,” Alya commented as she pulled out her phone. A few taps later, she turned the screen to Marinette. “Look at his face. Does this say that he was annoyed?”

Adrien was looking at Marinette’s head with a smile, not annoyance. “That doesn’t prove anything,” Marinette said.

Alya facepalmed. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Love me?”

“Other than that.”

“Well, today can’t get any worse.” Marinette regretted saying that statement the moment that it left her mouth.

  
Hours later and twenty more falls, twelve in front of Adrien, she was deeply regretting what she told Alya. Marinette was a walking disaster throughout the entire day.

“Maybe you shouldn't move at all,” Adrien suggested when she fell again. “How many is that?”

“Twenty-one,” she grumbled. Marinette stayed on the ground. “I'm taking that bet.”

“Good luck getting to class then,” Adrien said, walking forward.

“Adrien,” she whined. “Don't leave me.”

He stopped and looked at her. “You want to stay, you'll stay. I've got to get to class.”

With great reluctance, she stood up. “I need to go too.”

Marinette felt herself tilt to the right. Adrien rushed to keep her from falling again.

“I think I'm just going to help you today.” He held her arm gently.

“I may take you down again,” she said, thinking of that morning. “I shouldn't have this bad luck.”

“Why do you say that?”

She slightly panicked before holding her wrist up. “My lucky charm.”

“I'm surprised that you still have that,” Adrien looked at the bracelet, “that thing is old and a shitty attempt at that.”

Marinette scoffed. “This is not that old. It's only been two years and it isn't shitty. You made it for me so of course I still have it.”

“You're the kindest person I know,” Adrien said.

  
With Adrien guiding her the rest of the day, she only fell two more times. He was nice enough to walk her to her house. To her horror, when he left, her parents were teasing her endlessly.

She could only take so much during dinner and left as soon as she was done. She sat in her desk chair.

Tikki sat on the desk. “You've had an eventful day.”

“Why was I so klutzy today?”

“Some times, the Ladybug Miraculous has to release the bad luck that it converts to good luck. It can be as harmless as losing an item to as bad as an injury,” Tikki explained. “Vice versa for the Black Cat Miraculous.”

“So, I get bad luck outside the suit on occasions and Chat gets good luck?” she asked.

“Essentially,” the kwami said. “The effects last up to weeks depending on the severity of the release. With you, it most likely that it will last for, at most, a few days.”

Marinette groaned. “I guess there should be some consequences to balance the luck.”

“It has been shown that if you were to stay near the Black Cat user, your luck release is significantly less than without.” Tikki smiled like she knew something Marinette did.

“Too bad I don't know Chat outside the suit.”

Tikki sighed. “You'd be surprised.”

Marinette ignored her as she stared at her computer screen. Sometime shortly after she started crushing on Adrien, she realized how stalkerish she was and changed her background to a few of her designs she was proud of. She had also gotten rid of the schedule too.

At least she wouldn't be ‘release’ clumsy for much longer if Tikki was correct. 


	6. Secrets

Adrien was not expecting to fall for one of his best friends. That blue eyes and blue hair would be his downfall.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng had wormed her way into the spot Ladybug had previously been. He had spent months wondering if he actually had feelings for her and concluded that he did. The first time he realized it was in the museum when they had that project. After he thought long about it, he realized that he had feelings for her since day one.

She was beautiful when she was planning her designs. When she was looking at different fabric for those designs. When she was trying to solve a particularly difficult problem. When she talked about her passion or future.

He had sat in his room for an hour, thinking about how he didn’t notice it sooner; how she snuck up on him and had his heart in the palm of her hand. Plagg was teasing him about it a lot.

At school, Nino noticed his odd behavior. “What’s got you thinking so hard, dude?”

“I realized something that changed my life,” Adrien said, turning to his friend.

“That your Dad is a major dick?”

“No, something else.”

“What is it then?” Nino asked. He had leaned forward with anticipation.

Adrien buried his head in his arms with a red face. “You know that girl that I told you about a few months ago?”

“Yeah, you said that you were moving on from her,” Nino said.

“Well,” Adrien paused. “I have definitely moved on.”

“That doesn't seem to be something life-changing.” Nino shrugged.

“Oh, it’s not that.” Adrien looked Nino in the eyes. “I realized last night that I have feelings for another girl for a long time.”

“And how long is that?”

“Since the day I started school here.”

“Woah, dude, who is it?” Nino’s eyes widened.

“Marinette,” Adrien admitted.

“Dude,” Nino said. “Are you going to ask her out?”

“I can't,” the blond moaned. “She's too good for me. Just like that other girl.”

“You are literally a model and one of the kindest people I know. Mari is perfect for you.” Nino gave Adrien a look.

“She’s out of my league, Nino.”

His best friend sighed and turned back to his work. Adrien spent the rest of class moping about not being good enough for Marinette.

  
Every time Nino and Adrien were in the vicinity of the bluenette, the former would nudge the latter. For days this had gone on and Adrien was getting tired of it.

“Stop that!” He hissed the next time Nino nudged him.

“Not until you ask her out.”

“Not going to happen.” Adrien rubbed his side where Nino hit him. “That hurt this time.”

“I’m not sorry,” Nino said. “You need to ask her out and get all this over with.”

“Can we please drop this?” Adrien pleaded. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore.

“For now,” Nino pulled his hat down. “I’m not dropping it completely.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said.

  
For the next few weeks, Nino kept his promise for the most part. Instead of nudging him, he would wriggle his eyebrows. Less violent, but not less annoying.

Alya seemed to have caught on and would give Adrien looks when Marinette wasn’t looking. He would look away, embarrassed at being caught staring at the bluenette.

“So,” Alya said when she sat in front of him during lunch, “do you have something you want to tell me?”

“Uh, not exactly,” Adrien ran his hand through his hair, “and anyway, I sure you already know.”

“As a journalist, I have to have my sources checked,” she informed him. “So answer one question truthfully.”

Adrien sighed, defeated. “One question.”

“Do you, or do you not, have romantic feeling for one Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

“I do.”

Alya squealed in excitement. “You have to tell her!”

“Like I’ve told Nino many times, she is too good for me,” Adrien said, done with the prompting.

Her eyes hit him with a fierce glare and he almost coward down. “Listen here, Sunshine, I am glad that you think she is too good for you, but you need to ask her out for all of our sanities.”

Adrien was almost tempted to pick up his phone to call Marinette. He looked down to the table. “I can’t, Alya.”

“Why not?” Alya’s voice held barely contained fury.

“I can’t have another instance where I’m rejected by a girl I love,” Adrien said, sadness leaking through his tone. “I had it happen to me before and I don’t want to go through it again.”

“You love her?” It was asked softly.

Adrien looked Alya in her eyes. “Yes. I’ve had a while to think about it and I realized that I liked her ever since she looked at me with a fury that could rival yours and accused me of putting gum on her seat. I was just too blind by someone who didn’t like me back that I never saw it.”

Alya reached across the table an held his hand. “I know that you feel like you won’t have a chance but trust me when I say that you do. If you ask her, she’ll say yes.”

“I don’t think I’m ready to do that yet,” he squeezed her hand. “I need to come to terms with my feelings and get my thoughts together before I take the chance.”

“Okay,” Alya said, her eyes shining with sympathy. “Take the time you need. Just not too long.”

“I will,” Adrien promised. “Thank you, Alya.”

“Any time. Just know that you can talk to me anytime,” Alya said.

“Okay.”

  
Cholé had taken one look at him as asked him point blank what was wrong with him. Adrien tried to deflect it only for her to push it. After a while of prodding, he burst and told her everything.

“So you have a crush on Dupain-Cheng?” She asked.

“Yes.” Adrien face planted on the couch.

“And you’re not going to ask her out?”

He sat up to look at her incredulously. “You aren’t shocked by this?”

“As if,” Chloé scoffed. “I knew that you liked her.”

“How?”

“Does it matter. Why are you not asking her out?”

“I thought you didn’t really like her,” Adrien said. He now sat on the couch normally.

Chloé walked to the couch to sit on the other end and faced him. “I never truly dislike her. I was jealous of her.”

“That’s big to admit,” Adrien rose his eyebrows.

“She’s just got so many friends, a loving family, and is so kind to anyone no matter what,” Chloé listed.

“Chlo,” he began.

“And I had a small crush on her too.”

This threw him in a loop. “What?”

“Adrien, honey,” Chloé pulled him to her and pet his hair, “I am a huge lesbian.”

He leaned against her. “How did I miss that?”

“You have the literal obliviousness of a toddler,” she said.

“I can agree with that, surprisingly.”

“It’s not surprising, at all,” Cholé wrapped her arms around him. “I’m glad you’re in my life.”

“I am too,” Adrien said. He lifted his head a bit to look at her. “You’ll keep this a secret, right?”

“As your childhood friend, I am obligated to tease you about it,” Chloé teased. “Of course I will,” she added at the look on his face.

“Thanks, Chlo.”

“No problem, Adrien.”


	7. Sweet Tooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's late, again. My family has been binging all of Game of Thrones to prepare for Season 8's premiere. It's been hard to fit Adrinette April in, but I will finish it if it's the last thing I do.

Adri-boy's first day of tests with the starting champion, baking!

“Feel the dough rise.”

Adrien looked at Tom Dupain. “Feel it rise?”

“Why of course, my boy,” Tom, as he asked Adrien to call him, said. “To bake, you need to be attuned to everything.”

  
“So I have to be the dough?” Adrien asked.

Tom let out a hearty chuckle. “Not literally. You just have to be able to know when it’s ready.”

“Okay, I think I have some of it.”

“Tom, leave the boy alone,” Sabine said as she walked in. “There is no need to “feel the dough rise”. We have timers that help with that.”

Adrien sighed in relief. No need to become the dough. “That will make it a lot easier.”

“Sorry ‘bout messing with you, Adrien,” Tom apologized.

“No need. It was a funny joke,” Adrien waved it off.

Just then, Marinette walked in. “Papa, did you tell him to “feel the dough” like you did to the others?”

“He did,” Sabine said. “I stopped it before he went too far.”

“Like he did with Bill?”

“Yes.”

Adrien didn’t want to know what happened with Bill. “So this is my first test?”

“Your first test is going to be seeing if you can make croissants,” Tom said.

Marinette rose an eyebrow. “You are going to kill his arms.”

“I can handle it,” Adrien said with confidence.

  
He couldn’t feel his arms. You would think that being Chat Noir would help but it didn’t. “Why did you not warn me, Mari?”

“You said that you could do it,” Marinette giggled. They were sprawled on her couch after a long time rolling out the croissant dough. “I tried to warn you.”

“I don’t like you,” he said.

“No, you don’t.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Adrien nudged her with his foot.

She nudged back. “How was it baking?”

“Honestly, it’s relaxing,” he said. “Your parents are nice.”

“Baking is relaxing once you know how to,” Marinette agreed. “Your next test will be customer service.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“You shouldn’t have said that.”

  
Adrien groaned as he landed on Marinette’s chaise. “Why do I end up regretting what I say?”

“You get a pass since you had a sheltered life,” Marinette said. She sat next to his body.

“How do you do it?”

“With great patience and a smile,” she joked.

“My face hurts from smiling,” he complained.

Marinette patted his cheek. “If you get the job, you’ll get used to it.”

“I would love to work here,” Adrien said. “It would be the dream.”

“You just want the job because of the sweets.”

“How dare you? I did it to spend more time with you,” Adrien faked the offense.

She gave him a look. “Okay, that may have played a small part in it,” he admitted.  
“You and your sweet tooth,” Marinette said.

“A life without many sweets will do that.”

“That sounds sad,” she started to run her hand through his hair.

He leaned into it. “It’s not like I didn’t have sweets growing up. It really started when I began modeling. Father took them away.”

“Still,” She said.

“It’s okay, Mari,” Adrien looked up at her, “I have you.”

Her face went pink. “I knew that’s why you became my friend.”

“That was just the bonus,” he admitted.

Marinette stared into his eyes with a smile. Her mouth opened to say something when Sabine called her name.

“Yes, Maman?” She called back.

“Can the both of you come down for a minute?” her Mom asked.

They both scrambled down the stairs. Marinette’s parents stood in the kitchen, trays of the croissants that were made on the table.

“It is time,” Tom said ominously.

Sabine hit him on the arm. “Oh, stop that.” She smiled at Adrien. “What he means is that we are going to eat the croissants.”

“I hope they turned out good,” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m sure you did fine, honey,” Sabine told him.

Tom cut two croissants in half and passed them out. Adrien picked up his piece to take a small bite. He hummed in surprise. “This isn’t too bad.”

“Only because you had the help of Maman and Papa,” Marinette teased.

“I think he did a swell job,” Tom praised.

Adrien felt his heart fill with something unknown. He felt warm and happy. “Thank you.”

“Now that part one is done, it is on to part two: customer service,” Sabine said, clapping her hands.

Marinette had a look on her face that could only be glee. “Most people break at this part.”

Adrien thought it was right to feel fear at that look.

  
He was absolutely tired. Mentally, emotionally, and physically. How do other people do it daily? He relayed this question to Marinette, who was giggling at his bemoaning.

“Why do you overestimate yourself?”

Adrien sagged onto the couch. “I honestly have no clue. I think it’s my constant optimism.”

“To answer your questions,” Marinette sat next to him, “no one really does it. We only do it for the money and complain about it.”

“Money is a great motivator,” he said.

“That it is,” she agreed.

They sat in silence for a moment. Her parents were in the kitchen, cleaning up to make dinner. Adrien took this time to look at Marinette. Her hair was out of it’s usual pigtails and up in a high ponytail. Her eyes were staring at the ceiling as she fiddled with her fingers.

“Hey,” she turned to him and he quickly looked away, “I meant to ask, but is your father okay with this?”

“Uh, he doesn’t exactly know about it,” Adrien admitted with a sheepish smile.

“What if you get the job and your father plans a photo shoot on a day you work?” she asked.

That hadn’t crossed his mind. “And what if I don’t get the job?”

“You’ll get it,” Marinette sat up as she spoke. She twisted to face him. “You did good today and you’re going to have to tell him when you get it.”

“If I do, I’ll tell him,” Adrien assured her, placing a hand on hers.

“And if he tells you to quit?”

“Then I’ll make a claim that it will help me in the future for any job that deals with customers,” he said. “It’s not like he can argue with that.”

Marinette nodded. “It can help you.”

“Voila,” he waved his hand, “problem solved.”

Sabine walked in with a plate of desserts. “These are for you two.” She set the plate down and went back to the kitchen.

“How long do you think it would take for your parents to make a decision?” Adrien asked through a mouthful of pastry.

“Finish before you talk,” she said. “It may take a couple of weeks before they make a decision.”

He made a big show of swallowing his food before talking. “As long as I still feed my sweet tooth, I am good.”

“You know that will happen no matter what,” she reminded him.

“Yes, I do,” he agreed.

They hurried to finish the dining room when Tom called for dinner. As he sat at the table, he realized that he wanted to stay and not go back to the empty shell of his house. Jokes were exchanged, stories were told, no matter how embarrassing, and small talk filled the silence if there was any.

He hoped that he would be able to stay for dinner a lot more often.


	8. A Favor Only You Can Do

Marinette frantically ran around her room. She had no clue if her design was to fit on a person. All her mannequins were female shaped and not male. If she were to push herself, then she needed to not make only women clothes. An idea formed in her head and she picked her phone up sending a quick text.

Ten minutes later, Adrien burst into her room. “Are you okay?” he asked, out of breath and searching over her body.

“Yes,” she said, wondering why he looked frantic.

“What’s the emergency?”

“Oh,” It clicked in her mind, “not a literal emergency. I have a favor that only you can do.”

Adrien took a deep breath. “Okay, what do you need?”

“Can you help me model my clothes? I don’t have male mannequins,” she asked him.

“Sure, what do you need me to do?” He asked.

“Just to put this on as I make any adjustments.” She handed him a jacket to try on.

Carefully, Adrien slipped the jacket on. The pins were in securely, but it’s better safe than sorry.

The next hour and a half was spent with Marinette directing Adrien to move certain ways as she adjusted each part of the jacket. It wouldn’t have taken as long if Adrien hadn’t kept making faces or ridiculous poses.

“So who’s the jacket for?” He asked after he took the jacket off for the alterations.

“Right now, it’s for no one,” she said. “I’m just expanding my skills. Instead of making clothes for women, I’m attempting men’s.”

“And as you said, you don’t have a male mannequin,” he finished the statement.

“Correct,” she shook her hand when she poked a finger with the needle. “Thank you for helping me.”

Adrien sat down on her chaise. “It’s no problem. I was lucky that Father hadn’t scheduled anything for me.”

“Did you happen to drop what you were doing and run?”

“Possibly,” he said.

She gave him a look. “What did you drop?”

“Nothing important,” Adrien dismissed. “How are the alterations going?”

“Right now, they’re good. I’ll need you to put it back on after I finish so I can see if I got it correct,” she said as she turned her sewing machine on.

Since Adrien knew she got in the zone when she sewed, he messed around on his phone. She knew that he was watching cat videos.

  
It took an hour of sewing for her to finish the project. When she had told Adrien that the jacket was for no one, she lied. It was actually for him. He had complained that he didn’t have a jacket that could keep the cold out.

Marinette stood up with the jacket in hand. “Now for the final test: seeing if the jacket fits.”

“I’m sure it does,” Adrien said as he stood to put the jacket on.

The next few minutes were spent tugging and flattening the jacket, much to her embarrassment. There were some parts that needed more fine-tuning, but it worked well considering that she didn’t have his measurements.

“Seems like you did a good job,” he praised. He took the jacket off again, careful of the few pins on it.

“Thanks, I needed a challenge.” She set the jacket down and turned to Adrien. “How was your day before I pulled you here?”

“Eh, boring,” he plopped back down on her chaise.  
“Being here is way more enjoyable than the piano.”

“I wish I could play the piano,” she said. “Or any instrument really.”

Adrien shifted to face her, his face was lit up. “I could teach you if you want.”

“I don't want to trouble you any more,” Marinette tried to counter.

“Think of it as a favor for me,” he said. “I help you, you help me.”

She tried to figure out how that made sense. “How is you teaching me piano helping you?”

“It would make it more fun,” Adrien flipped on his back. “That's how you would help.”

Marinette hummed. “I guess I can’t argue with that logic.”

“I’m going to pretend that you actually meant that.”

“What should I learn first?” she asked through her giggles.

He sat up, said, “bring a notebook and pencil real quick, please,” and patted the space next to him.

She followed the instructions and turned to an empty page before handing it to him. He took it and drew ten lines spaced apart.

“What I’m going to show you is a scale,” he said as he drew dots and vertical lines. At the beginning of the scale, he drew an open brace and on the top set of lines, he drew what looked like an ‘and’ symbol and on the bottom set, a backward ‘c’ with a colon next to it.

“This symbol is called a treble clef,” he tapped on the top line, “and this one is a bass clef,” he moved the pencil down to the bottom line.

“Why are there two clefs?” She asked, mentally taking notes.

“With the piano, you use both hands,” Adrien held his hands up. “The left one is for the bass and the right is the treble.”

“That makes sense,” Marinette took the pencil out of his hands to make a few notes on the paper. “So, why the open brace?”

“That makes it a grand staff,” he took the pencil back to write it down. “It joins the two clefs to make one piece of music. It’s also the harder notion to use.”

“I’m kind of getting this,” she said, leaning forward. “And I think I should probably learn the easy stuff first.”

He grinned sheepishly. “That would probably be the best and once you understand it, it does get easier in my experience.”

“Okay, now I know there are notes,” she smiled.

“There are,” he gave her a look. When she looked back at him, he turned back to the paper. There he wrote one set of lines on a new paper with a treble clef at the beginning. “Each note represents a letter. E,F,G,A,B,C,D,E,F.” Each letter was written down next to each note.

“I’m not going to be able to remember that,” she admitted. Sure, it was the alphabet but it all seemed to mesh together.

Adrien laughed. “There’s a saying that helps. Every good boy does fine and face.” He wrote it down on the paper. The first of each word on the first saying was capitalized and the word ‘face’ was in all caps.

“Oh!”

“It definitely helped me when I was beginning,” he said. “This is pretty much all I can teach you without an actual piano. The reading part kind of goes along with playing and the rhythms as well.”

“Good, my head was starting to swim,” Marinette joked.

“Oh, har har.” Adrien set the notebook next to him. “Soon enough it will make sense if you want to keep up.”

“We’ll see about that.”

He opened his mouth to say something when his phone went off. He held a finger up and went to the other side of her room to answer it.

Marinette stood to clean up the mess. She had placed the jacket on her desk when Adrien came back over.

“That was Nathalie,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I have to go home.”

She sighed. “Thank you again for your help.”

“It’s no problem. It was a favor,” Adrien reminded her.

With a smile, she lead him downstairs. She picked up a few pastries to give to him. “Don’t let Nathalie see this.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Adrien winked and pressed a kiss to her cheek before he left.

Her hand rose to her cheek. She may have to call more favors.


End file.
